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[angello]

Anyone had this?

I had to move a trailer in a muddy field this morning - went to select low range and the red lever begrudgingly came out of high range and then jammed in neutral..... Didn't matter what I did, I couldn't get it to select low range or even go back into high range..... Stuck 

In the process of trying everything, I managed to reselect high range by pushing down the yellow 4x4 knob which allowed the red lever to select high range again. Once I had got the trailer out in high range and decoupled, I find that I now can't get it out of 4x4 in high range..... I HAVE to have the yellow knob pushed to be able to select any range with the red lever, though with the yellow knob pushed it will select both low and high range.....
In high with the yellow knob pushed (so 4x4 selected), it will pop up the yellow knob to disengage 4x4 as you move the red lever backwards, but as soon as you do that the red lever then won't select either range unless you push the yellow knob down again. With the yellow knob pushed it will select high and low range easily apparently.

So, as it stands I'm stuck in 4x4 high..... Any clues??? 

[Robin]

This sort of problem is often caused by rust on the selector rods which stick out the front of the transfer box, covered by a 'top hat' tin cover.

Take the tin cover off and try to move the rods with plenty of penetrating fluid. Might need some persuasion, but it often works.

Once it's sorted, fill the tin cover with grease before refitting to try to stop it happening again.

Hope that helps,
Robin.

[Craig T]

Yup, as Robin has said, the 4WD shaft has stuck in place.
The 4WD shaft is only spring assisted on the inside of the gearbox to return it to the correct place so it only takes a little corrosion to make it all stick in place.

Had it happen a couple of times now.

Craig.

[angello]

Ah, useful - thank you. I'm guessing centre gearbox cover off? and accessible from there? I'll have a dig about....

[Alan Drover]

I make a point of exercising the 4WD set up once a month. I do it on the green lanes when I take the dogs for a walk there. Today was an exercise day and all ok.

[nathanglasgow]

Ah, useful - thank you. I'm guessing centre gearbox cover off? and accessible from there? I'll have a dig about....

Better access with drivers side floor removed.

[Worf]

WD40 and a few taps on the casing with a rubber hammer usually frees things off.

[angello]

Many thanks chaps!  That's exactly what the problem was - the 4wd selector shaft was stuck in the 'box.... a little wiggle and it's come free. I'll clean it all up tomorrow and oil/grease and we should be back to full operation 

[w3526602]

Hi,

I'm not sure if some clarification is needed ....

You engage 4WD by pushing the YELLOW knob down, even while moving.

To disengage 4WD, you should STOP, and pull the RED knob back into LO. The YELLOW knob should then pop-up, assuming there is a little spring wrapped around the "lever". No spring means no pop-up. Been there, done that ... not.

That is not intended to over-ride everybody's advice about lubricating the mechanism below the yellow knob.

It might be worth jacking one front wheel off the ground, to see if that releases things. Do all your tyres have the same rolling diameter?


602

PS ... Can "wind-up" cause a reluctance for 4WD to disengage?  I ask, because my experience of driving a Bedford RL in the desert was fun when you drove out of the soft sand onto a hard surface. The procedure involved drive backwards as fast as you can, then simultaneously braking hard, de-clutching, and smacking the transfer lever as hard as you could. Sometimes several attempts were needed. I never had any complaints from the blokes travelling in the back.

The Bedford had a separate transfer box ... short prop between main gearbox and transfer box, then prop-shafts from transfer box to front and rear axles. I believe the Lada Niva had something similar. I sometimes ponder on fitting an imaginary Niva transfer box into a 109", connected to something like a Jaguar engine with slush-pump. 

[angello]

The selector shaft had clearly been less than optimal for a while - having cleaned it up and oiled / greased it earlier it is now butter smooth and works better than it ever has done.... Good result!
Many thanks for the heads up on this issue - I was unaware of it prior to this and you can imagine what was going through my head when I was stuck in transfer box 'neutral' in the middle of a field hooked to a trailer! 

[Wittsend]

As suggested earlier ... now you know, give it occasional use once in a while, then when you really need it, it stands a chance of working.